The 17th death anniversary of slain founding Editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunge was marked by a graveside memorial at the general cemetery kanatte this morning (8).
The continuing probe into Wickrematunge’s murder was raised in parliament today (8) by opposition member of parliament (MP) Ravi Karunanayake.
Karunanayake, who had presented to parliament several questions on Wickrematunge’s murder to ask from Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, had questioned in the House as to why his questions were rejected by the parliament secretariat. He has noted that he planned to raise the questions today, which is Wickrematunge’s 17th death anniversary.
“Questions on the Easter Sunday attacks are allowed in the House, but one cannot understand why questions on Lasantha and other journalists are prevented,” Karunanayake has claimed.
Responding to Karunanayake’s question, Leader of the House, Minister Bimal Ratnayake has noted that those who killed Wickrematunge had governed the country some years ago.
“Lasantha’s killers and those who pledged to find them governed the nation years ago. They have failed but we will find and penalise all who harassed journalists in the past,” Ratnayake has said.
Karunanayake was to pose the questions under Standing Orders 38 to the Prime Minister. “Seventeen years after the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge, the continued absence of accountability remains a grave symbol of impunity in Sri Lanka. While the present Government has pledged to reopen emblematic cases, serious concerns persist following past cover-ups and the controversial attempt — later reversed — to discharge key suspects in February 2025,” Karunanayake has stated in the request presented to parliament.
However, in a letter sent to Karunanayake by Assistant Director (Administration), K.R. Herath has stated that the request to pose the questions to the Prime Minister cannot be included in the House agenda since the questions posed are related to a case currently being heard before court.
Following are the questions that were to be posed to Prime Minister Amarasuriya:
1.What concrete safeguards are now in place to prevent undue interference by the Attorney General’s Department in this prosecution?
2.What measures will ensure the safety and voluntary return of key witnesses, including former CID officers, to testify without fear?
3.Whether the Government will establish an independent special prosecutorial mechanism for emblematic cases insulated from political change?
4.What advanced forensic or digital methods are being used to reconstruct evidence lost or destroyed, including the command structure behind the crime?
5.What definitive timeline has been set to file a fresh indictment identifying both perpetrators and intellectual authors?
Pulseline has published the questions that were to be posed by Karunanayake to the Prime Minister due to the public’s right to information, especially due to the keen interest among the public in ensuring justice to slain media personnel.
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